'Aladdin' Actor Reveals A Typical Day In The Life Of A Broadway Star

After eating dinner with his wife, Kelly, and getting their
8-month-old twin boys ready for bed, Jacobs leaves his Sunnyside,
Queens, apartment and heads into Manhattan on the 7
train. "One thing I love about working in this
business is that I get to spend the entire day with my family,"
he tells Business Insider.

He typically arrives at work — the New Amsterdam Theatre in the
heart of New York City's Times Square — between 6:30 and 7 p.m.
and immediately grabs a coffee and some fruit. Then, he says, he
"really gets to work."

Jacobs plays the lead part in
Disney's "Aladdin," the
musical that premiered on Broadway in March. Prior to
landing this role, he starred in "Les Miserables," "Mama Mia!"
and "The Lion King."

Each night before the performance, Jacobs squeezes in a light
workout.

"I have to be pretty naked in the show," he says, joking. "It's
important that I maintain my look. So when I first get to the
theater, sometimes I'll stop in the New York Sports Club that's
across the street from the stage door and warm up for 15 minutes.
Or, if I'm feeling 'warm' enough, I'll just come into my dressing
room and do some asymmetric exercises. I have a whole mini gym
set up in there, with dumbbells and TheraBands, and other
equipment like that," he says.

After a quick
workout and a brief juggling session — "it's a form of meditation
for me," he says — Jacobs begins making his daily transformation
into his character, Aladdin.

Adam in his dressing room
with wardrobe supervisor Rick Kelly.Courtesy of Disney

Most nights the house curtains open promptly at 8 p.m., so he
begins getting into his makeup — which consists of "just a little
bit of eyeliner and bronzer" — around 7:15 and then waits for the
hair department to finish Jasmine's wig before coming to help
secure his hat. "Sometimes I have a little time before they come
in, so I'll play something like 'American Ninja Warrior' on my TV
in my dressing room just to get into the 'one jump' mood. Or I'll
have the TV on the ESPN channel on mute."

Once he's in costume, Jacobs heads down to the "deck" to hang out
with his costars, including Courtney Reed, who plays Jasmine, and
Tony Award-winning performer James Monroe Iglehart, who plays the
Genie.

"Usually everyone is warming up and stretching. We greet each
other and ask how everyone's days were. Sometimes I'll go visit
other people's dressing rooms before going down. And then
at 8 or 8:05, the downbeat starts."

Jacobs has been
performing his whole life. The Half Moon Bay, California, native
started playing the piano at age 5, shifting his focus to musical
theater in middle school — but every time he hears the downbeat
(the music that plays at the start of every show) Jacobs still
gets a "little flutter" in his stomach.

"But I like that, because it tells me that I'm excited," he says.
"I get nervous when I'm not nervous."

Jacobs says those butterflies, combined with the knowledge that
there are 1,700 people in the audience — some who have never seen
the show, and young kids who are seeing a Broadway musical for
the very first time — is what gives him energy each night. "I
don't want to disappoint anyone. That's what motivates me to do
my best."

Courtney Reed as Jasmine, and Adam Jacobs as
Aladdin.Deen van Meer/Courtesy of
Disney

During the
performance, Jacobs is "in the zone," but he allows himself to
have fun and enjoy the experience of starring in a Broadway
show.

"I know it's silly to say, but I really love when things go
wrong," he tells Business Insider. "When you do a show eight
times a week, in order for it to not feel rote, you sometimes
have to think of moments in the show and do something different
with them, just to keep it fresh. And sometimes people will screw
up a line and they'll have to improvise something. Even though
this is Broadway, it happens. But that's what makes it exciting."

Luckily, he
says, these mistakes are trivial, and the audience rarely
notices. But he recalls one gaffe that was "less funny and more
embarrassing."

During the show, Jacobs has a quick change. "At one point, Genie
says, 'You're a prince,' and as 'Aladdin the street rat,' with
the Fez and all that, I spin around and I'm suddenly in this
white outfit with a white turban and a big cape. One time early
on, I sang the whole number and upon getting off stage, I
realized that my fly was completely down. So I'm singing the big
Act I number and one of the lines is, 'Look at me! I can't
believe it! Look at me!' And I'm thinking, 'Oh wow, they were
definitely looking.' So that was kind of embarrassing."

Disney's "Aladdin" on
Broadway.Deen van Meer/Courtesy of
Disney

During intermission, Jacobs makes a quick costume change into
"Prince Ali." "Sometimes Courtney (Jasmine) will come in to hang
out, and we'll talk about fashion, because she likes to talk
about that. We have a very brother/sister-like relationship.
We're very competitive with one another — but it's fun."

He says he'll also eat a few more pieces of fruit during the
break. "I like mangos and papayas and apples. Courtney jokes that
I am just like Aladdin because I eat a lot of apples, which is
actually kind of true, and pretty funny."

After the second act of
the show, which usually ends around 10:30 p.m., Jacobs gets out
of costume, wipes off his makeup, and greets fans.

If celebrities are at
the show, he'll sometimes stay in costume to take photos.
"Aladdin is the hot new show in town, so we have a lot of
high-profile people come see it. We've had Paul Stanley, Phil
Collins, Whoopi Goldberg, and Meredith Vieira, just to name a
few. Sometimes during the show you'll look out and say, 'Oh my
God, I recognize that face!'"

He says the very best
part of the job is greeting the fans at the stage door as he
leaves, "because we have people who loved the movie, and people
who are seeing a Broadway show for the first time, and it's
people from little kids up to grandparents. Just to meet the fans
and see the impact that we have on them is so fulfilling for
me."

"It's so fun to look out at them and see their enraptured
faces," Jacobs says. "People don't realize that we can see them
sometimes; it's almost like they think they're watching TV. But
if you actually look at them, like if they're on their phone or
something and then they look up and make eye contact, they
usually look like a deer in the headlights and they put it away.
Or you'll see couples making out. I've seen all kinds of crazy
stuff!" The best, though, is seeing smiles from the audience, and
kids singing along, he says.

"There's nothing else like the theater, because it's a live
experience. And when you have that connection between the
audience and the actors on stage, it's electric. And that's sort
of what got me hooked to it when I was a kid."

He says that excitement gives him an adrenaline high that takes
time to come down from.

After greeting fans, Jacobs hops into a cab or walks to the
subway and heads home. "I need time to unwind after a show. I
can't just go home and go to sleep."

When he arrives home, he's usually hungry again. "Everyone is
asleep in my house, so I'll usually make myself a big meal —
maybe some salad and some chicken — then I'll watch Jimmy Fallon
or I'll just stay up for a little bit on the computer. Sometimes
I'll watch something on Netflix, or play some games on my phone,
like Words With Friends. And I actually play chess. Sometimes
I'll even go into the neighborhood and play chess with the guys
around here, and it's kind of a nerdy thing, but I learned from
my dad how to play, and now it's a hobby." He says he tries to get to
bed by 1 a.m.

Jacobs' post-show routine has changed since his sons, Jack and
Alex, were born in January — coincidentally on the first day of
rehearsal for "Aladdin."

"In previous shows, I used to hang out with my castmates more,
but now I usually just come home," he says. "If it's
a Sunday when we do an earlier show, I might hang out for a
little bit afterwards. But generally I like to go home and see my
wife and kids before they go to sleep."Jacobs and his wife,
Kelly, and their twin sons.Katie
Soyka/Courtesy of Disney

When he wakes
up in the morning — usually around 10 a.m. — Jacobs' day is like
anyone else's. (Well, anyone who doesn't have a day
job.)

He says his wife wakes up with their boys around 6:30 a.m., and
after their first nap, she'll bring them in to wake Jacobs up.

"It's really cute," he says. "I love seeing them in the morning,
and they're just trying to crawl on me."

After getting out of bed, Jacobs makes breakfast (cereal and
eggs) for himself and his wife. "We have nice mornings. We eat,
play with the babies, put them down for a nap, and then maybe
clean the house, do laundry, and pay bills. And when it's nice
out, we'll go for a walk."

After dinner and getting the boys ready for bed, he does it all
over again.

Adam Jacobs as Aladdin.Deen
van Meer/Courtesy of Disney

Being a Broadway star can be physically exhausting, he says
("It's like running a marathon every week!"), but the job offers
a healthy work-life balance.

"It's nice because I have pretty much the whole day with my
family and to get stuff done," he says. "If I had a typical 9-5
job, the boys would be going to bed right after I got home, and I
wouldn't necessarily have the time to spend with my family."

He says when a show first opens, his free time is more limited,
but "once all the press dies down from Tony's and all that, and
once we're sort of settled in the show, I can spend a lot of time
with my wife and kids, and it's wonderful."